EDUC 5010 Unit 1 Discussion Question

The purpose of education has evolved over time but the essential aim has always been to prepare
the young people best for what they need in their future lives. There are four main goals for
education - intellectual, political, economical and social. In the early days of schooling, the social
and political goals were not emphasized as much but over time, educators acknowledged the
importance of equal access to education in order to build the character of the learner as well as
intelligence.
A major breakthrough of the American education system was the Common Schools Movement
that laid the foundation to equal schooling. Thomas Mann was able to convince the public that
equal access to education would benefit not only the individual people but the whole country's
economical and political situation. A person able to process information and think critically is
beneficial to the community and the economy of the country. In my opinion, the understanding
of the purpose of education has evolved over time but the main goals have stayed the same since
the early days of education in ancient Greek - to develop the ability to think and understand the
world around us.
In Estonia, education has also not been the privilege of everyone and the purpose of schooling
has evolved over time. The formal education dates back to the 13th-14th century when the first
cathedral schools were founded. However, the education during those early days was not
available to the local Estonian community as it was conducted in German. This meant that the
education was the privilege of a small part of the community and the aim was to educate
gentlemen of higher class.
However, when we think of education as passing knowledge from one generation to another,
then education has been everywhere. In those early days, the main goal of education was to teach
the young how to manage everyday duties in farms and it was passed on from father to son.
When first schools in Estonian were founded, they provided the basic reading, mathematical and
theological knowledge – enough to make sure that the local people were able to read the
religious publications and operate with currency. So the main purpose then was both economical
as well as political.
Another political change in Estonia’s education system came with the as a result of the Great
Northern War at the beginning of the 18th century, when Estonia fell under the domain of Russia
and Estonia as a nation was almost becoming extinct. The importance of education was
neglected and schools served the military and political needs.
The other discriminating aspect of early formal education was the access of schooling for girls.
In the 19th century, the girls were only getting the basic education for 4-6 years and didn’t have
the access to secondary or higher education. This was only changed in 1906 when the first
secondary school for girls was founded by the educational revolutionists Peeter Põld and Jaan
Tõnisson in Tartu, Estonia. This revolution changed the education system in Estonia drastically
and made it possible for everyone to get equal access to education.
Today, Estonia is proud to be in one of the top countries of quality education in the world grating
equal access to free education to everyone. With the collapse of the Soviet educational system,
the emphasis from the political and ideological purposes of education decreased and the
intellectual and social goals took the precedence. Education received access to western
philosophy and started developing rapidly. With access to schools practising different
educational philosophies, the personal needs of individual students are supported and the
development of each individual is essential.
In conclusion, I would like to say that we cannot state one main purpose of education because it
differs between individual persons, schools and times. There are different purposes for schooling
and education but the basis of a good education is developing a person’s thinking skills and
prepare them for future life. It is great that today’s education does not only address the
economical and political goals of education but puts more emphasis on personal development if
an individual.

Resources:

1. Piedra, A. M. (2019, November 13). The Tragedy of American Education: The Role of John
Dewey. Retrieved September 06, 2020, from https://www.iwp.edu/articles/2018/02/01/the-
tragedy-of-american-education-the-role-of-john-dewey/

2. Estonica. (n.d.). The history of Estonian education — the story of the intellectual liberation of
a nation. Retrieved September 05, 2020, from
http://www.estonica.org/en/Education_and_science/The_history_of_Estonian_education_—
_the_story_of_the_intellectual_liberation_of_a_nation/The_role_of_learning_in_a_culture/